Kinetics of in situ epoxidation of natural unsaturated triglycerides catalyzed by acidic ion exchange resin

The kinetics of the epoxidation of nonedible oil (mahua oil) by peroxyacetic acid, formed in situ by the reaction of aqueous hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid, in the presence of an acidic ion exchange resin (AIER) as the catalyst, was studied. The influence of some relevant process variables such as stirring speed, hydrogen peroxide to ethylenic unsaturation molar ratio, acetic acid to ethylenic unsaturation molar ratio, temperature, and catalytic loading of AIER on the epoxidation rate as well as on the oxirane ring stability and iodine value of the epoxidized Mahua oil (EMO) was examined. The proposed kinetic model takes into consideration two side reactions, namely, epoxy ring opening involving the formation of hydroxy acetate and a hydroxyl group and the reactions of the peroxyacid and epoxy group. Kinetic parameters were estimated by fitting experimental data using a nonlinear regression method. From the estimated kinetic constants, the apparent activation energy for the epoxidation reaction was found to be 12.0 kcal/mol.